Credit Scoring Model Statistics 2026: FICO vs VantageScore

The average US FICO Score stands at 714, flat since October 2025, with the median holding at 744. Credit scoring model statistics shift with the model behind them. The average VantageScore credit score decreased slightly to 701 in July 2026, within a 700 to 702 range over the past year.

Lenders choose the model, and the model shapes the number a borrower sees. FICO also reports a national Classic FICO Score average of 710, a third national reading. The three averages come from different models, and the VantageScore figure covers a later month, so they do not describe one common population. Data from FICO, VantageScore, the CFPB, FHFA and the New York Fed cover score bands, loan-type averages, credit invisibles, the mortgage scoring contest and FICO’s Scores revenue.

Key Takeaways

• A record 48.1% of consumers now have FICO Scores of 750 or higher, up from 43.3% in 2019.
• Newly issued FHA loans carried an average FICO Score of 691 in April 2026, against 759 for conventional loans, according to FICO.
• The CFPB estimates the share of credit invisibles in December 2020 at 2.7%, or 7.0 million consumers.
• Consumers are 93% more likely to pay a personal loan than a bankcard, per FICO’s payment hierarchy.
• FICO’s Scores revenues were $458.9 million in its fiscal 2026 third quarter (ended June 30, 2026), an increase of 41%.
• About 3.2 million consumers with a recent student loan delinquency saw an average 38-point decline in their FICO Score, per FICO’s Fall 2026 data.
• The Federal Reserve Bank of New York puts the all-debt flow into serious delinquency at 2.57% in Q2 2026, down from 2.91% in Q2 2025.

Editor’s Choice

• FICO Score used by top lenders: 90% of top US lenders.
• Median FICO Score: 744, down one point from a year ago.
• VantageScore credit scores used in 2024: 41.7 billion, up from 26.9 billion in 2023.
• Adults with a scored credit record (2020): 87.5%, or 225.3 million consumers, per the CFPB’s December 2020 estimate.
• First-time homebuyer payment: $2,563, up 57% since 2019.
• Mortgage lender choice: On July 8, 2025, FHFA announced that lenders will be able to use the VantageScore 4.0 credit model or Classic FICO.
• FICO fiscal 2026 revenue guidance: $2.53 billion, raised from $2.45 billion.

Credit Scoring Model Statistics: Average Score by Model

Figures are compiled from 20 sources. They include 8 FICO reports and releases, 7 VantageScore releases and pages, 4 CFPB, FHFA, Freddie Mac, and New York Fed publications, and 1 academic paper. Publication dates run from May 2021 to fall 2026. Only first-party company, regulator, and academic data qualify. Figures are reviewed on a rolling basis and updated when sources publish new editions.

• The average FICO Score is flat at 714 since October 2025, the headline reading.
• FICO says its scores are used by 90% of top US lenders.
• The median FICO Score is holding at 744, one point below a year earlier.
• VantageScore counts over 3,700 banks, fintechs and other institutions that use its credit scores every day.
• The average VantageScore credit score remained within the narrow 700 to 702 range seen over the past year.
• The average VantageScore 4.0 credit score increased to 702 in June 2026, before the July dip.
• The average score for existing mortgages held flat year over year at 739, well above the national Classic FICO Score average.

Source: FICO Credit Insights Fall 2026, VantageScore CreditGauge June and July 2026

What is the most popular credit scoring model?

The FICO Score remains the default for large lenders. FICO describes its score as used by 90% of top US lenders. VantageScore reports broad use as well, with over 3,700 banks, fintechs, and other institutions using its credit scores every day.

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FICO Score Gains by Generation

• Gen Z (18-29) and Millennials (30-44) have seen the biggest gains in average score since before the pandemic, with Gen Z up 17 points.
• FICO notes that age is not a factor in the FICO Score and plays no role in how a score is calculated.
• In FICO’s scorable population, approximately one-sixth is made up of 18-29-year-olds, and one-third is in the 60+ age group.
• More than 25% of Gen Z consumers with a valid FICO Score opened at least one credit card in the past year, the highest rate of any age group.

Recent Developments

• August 25, 2026: VantageScore reported that early-stage delinquencies, 30-59 days past due, declined to 0.89% in July 2026 from 1.05% in July 2025.
• August 11, 2026: The New York Fed reported that $505 billion in mortgages was newly originated in Q2 2026, with 4.7% of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency.
• July 29, 2026: FICO hosted a webcast to report its third-quarter fiscal 2026 results and reported revenues of $674.2 million for the quarter, an increase of 26%.
• July 29, 2026: FICO raised its fiscal 2026 revenue guidance to $2.53 billion from $2.45 billion.
• July 29, 2026: VantageScore reported that the average VantageScore credit score increased in June 2026 as consumer credit remained generally healthy.

Credit Score Distribution Statistics

• A record 48.1% of consumers now have FICO Scores of 750 or higher, the top of the distribution.
• The share of consumers in the highest and lowest score ranges has now been stable for a full year.
• FICO sees continued downward movement in the 700-749 segment and slight increases in the 550-649 segment between April 2025 and April 2026.
• The share of consumers in the middle score ranges continued to decline as both high-score and lower score segments expanded, per FICO’s Spring 2026 report.

Source: FICO Credit Insights Spring and Fall 2026

How many Americans have a 750 credit score?

About 48.1% of US consumers have FICO Scores of 750 or higher, up from 43.3% in 2019. FICO’s Spring 2026 report noted that the score distribution reflects a K-shaped economy, as the share in the middle score ranges continued to decline.

In the Fall 2026 report, FICO said it does not see that hollowing of the middle as prominently in the overall population between April 2025 and April 2026, and the share below 550 has held at 10.5% for a full year, so the high and low tails are both stable.

Average FICO Score by Loan Type

• The average FICO Score for newly issued mortgages ticked up from 741 to 743 between April 2025 and April 2026.
• Newly issued conventional loans averaged 759 in April 2026, the highest of the mortgage types FICO tracks.
• The average FICO Score for newly issued auto finance loans slipped to 716 in April 2026 from 723 in April 2025.
• The average FICO Score for existing auto finance loans remains at 704, equal to the pre-pandemic score.

Conventional mortgage originations averaged 68 points more than FHA originations in April 2026. That spread shows how score cutoffs sort borrowers into loan programs before pricing even starts. Newly issued car loans moved the other way, with their average score down 7 points between April 2025 and April 2026 while newly issued mortgages rose 2 points.

Credit Payment Hierarchy Statistics

• Auto ranks first: consumers are 20% more likely to pay an auto loan than a mortgage, with an auto 90-day-plus delinquency rate of 3.0% against 3.6% for mortgage, for consumers with open autos and mortgages over 2024 to 2026.
• For consumers with open personal loans and bankcards, the personal loan 90-day-plus delinquency rate was 11.0% while the bankcard figure was 21.2%.
• For consumers with open bankcards and student loans, the bankcard 90-day-plus delinquency rate was 14.0% while the student loan figure was 21.3%.
• Many borrowers may not have prioritized student loans because the forbearance and on-ramp periods meant many had not made payments since 2020.

Key finding: FICO’s payment hierarchy puts auto loans first and student loans last. Consumers are 93% more likely to pay a personal loan than a bankcard and 52% more likely to pay a bankcard than a student loan. Secured debts sit at the top because missing them risks the car or the house.

Student Loan Delinquency and FICO Scores

• About 3.2 million consumers with a payment due had a student loan delinquency in the past 6 months and saw an average 38-point year-over-year decline in their FICO Score.
• Student loan severe delinquency rates rose only marginally between April and October 2025, per FICO’s Spring 2026 report, after the sharp increase that followed resumed reporting.
• The New York Fed shows the student loan flow into serious delinquency at 7.83% in Q2 2026, against 12.88% in Q2 2025.
• In its Spring 2026 report, which covered the previous year, FICO tied the 2-point fall in the national average mainly to resumed student loan delinquency reporting and a modest increase in mortgage delinquencies.

Borrowers who stayed current on their student loans gained modestly, while those with a recent delinquency lost the most ground.

Personal Loan and Credit Card Score Trends

• The share of newly issued personal loans going to consumers scoring above 700 increased from 30.8% in April 2019 to 38.6% in April 2026.
• Average bankcard balances rose 3.8% to $7,793, while utilization declined from 35.5% to 35.2%.
• Credit limits, particularly for higher-scoring consumers, grew faster than balances.

Lenders are steering unsecured credit toward stronger files, so stable personal loan performance partly reflects who gets approved. On credit cards, limits grew faster than balances, particularly for higher-scoring consumers, so utilization fell even as average balances rose.

Affordability Pressure by Credit Score

• The average first-time homebuyer payment reached $2,563, up 57% since 2019, outpacing inflation since rates began climbing in 2022.
• Mortgage balances for sub-620 borrowers grew 43% since April 2019, ahead of inflation.
• Subsequent 90-day-plus delinquency rates for both mortgage and auto rose exclusively in the lowest score bands.
• A FICO survey found that three-quarters (74%) of prospective homebuyers and 85% of first-time homebuyers say financial obstacles have prevented them from buying a home this year.
• In the FICO Consumer Credit Study, 43% of homeowners said their total monthly housing costs made it more difficult to keep up with other expenses, in a survey conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of FICO from July 20 to 22, 2026, among 2,078 US adults, accurate to within 2.7 percentage points for the full sample at 95% confidence, with a wider margin for subgroups such as homeowners.

Credit Invisible and Unscored Consumer Statistics

• The CFPB technical correction found that an estimated 5.8% of adults (13.5 million consumers) were credit invisible in December 2010, compared with the earlier estimate of 11.0% (25.9 million consumers).
• Correcting the data increased the estimated share of adults with an unscored credit record in December 2010 from 7.4 to 12.7%.
• The estimated share of adults with a scored credit record increased from 81.6 to 87.5% between 2010 and 2020.
• The estimated share of credit invisibles in December 2020 was 2.7%.

Why it matters: The CFPB’s correction moves the policy problem. The share of credit invisibles in December 2020 was 2.7%, while the share of adults with a scored credit record rose to 87.5%. The adults in between hold a credit record that cannot be scored, a larger group than the invisibles, and that gap is where newer models and cash-flow data compete.

Are credit scores less accurate for thin-file borrowers?

Laura Blattner and Scott Nelson find widely used credit scores are statistically noisier indicators of default risk for historically underserved groups, primarily through underlying credit report data, such as thin files. In the US mortgage market, they estimate equalizing the precision of credit scores can reduce disparities in approval rates and in credit misallocation for disadvantaged groups by approximately half.

How much can cash-flow data change a thin-file score?

FICO’s cash-flow research points to a sizable thin-file group inside the scorable population:

• In the score range of 620-679, approximately 22% of consumers have limited tradelines or short credit history.
• Roughly 25% of consumers in the 680 to 739 range also have few tradelines or limited history.
• Roughly 79% of consumers with 90+ day delinquency, public records, or collections and favorable cash flow history would see a higher score under the UltraFICO Score.
• FICO made the next-generation UltraFICO Score generally available on May 20, 2026.

Mortgage Credit Score Competition Statistics

• The FHFA implementation FAQ notes that for decades, mortgage loans delivered to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac required credit scores from a single model, the Classic FICO model.
• On July 8, 2025, FHFA announced that lenders will be able to use the VantageScore 4.0 credit model or Classic FICO via the tri-merge credit report requirement.
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are accepting VantageScore 4.0 for mortgage loans from all approved lenders, and HUD will also allow its use for FHA mortgage loans.
• Over 80% of all FHA-insured mortgages went to first-time homebuyers in 2024.
• VantageScore claims that VantageScore 4.0 identifies 49% more mortgage defaults than FICO Classic, a vendor white paper figure.

FICO answered the competition on price. Its performance model sets the royalty fee at $4.95 per score, a 50% reduction in average per-score fees for tri-merge resellers, and the program lets tri-merge resellers distribute FICO Scores directly, eliminating reliance on the three nationwide credit bureaus, including Equifax.

Source: FICO, October 2025

VantageScore Usage Statistics

• 41.7 billion VantageScore credit scores were used in 2024, which VantageScore describes as a 55% yearly increase.
• VantageScore utilization in the credit card sector is up by more than 142%.
• In 2022, VantageScore credit score use was nearly equally balanced between financial institutions (46%) and non-financial institutions (53%).
• All top 10 banks use VantageScore credit scores or digital tools in one or more lines of business.

Source: VantageScore, 2023 and 2025 market adoption research

FICO Scores Revenue Statistics

• Scores revenue was $458.9 million in the third quarter, compared to $324.3 million in the prior-year period.
• B2B revenue increased 49%, primarily attributable to a higher mortgage origination scores unit price.
• Scores revenue was $475.0 million in the second quarter, an increase of 60%.
• Software revenues were up 2% year-over-year with $215.3 million in the third quarter.

By the numbers: FICO’s Scores segment grew year over year in each of the first three quarters of fiscal 2026. Scores revenues were $304.5 million in the first quarter, an increase of 29%. In the third quarter, B2C revenue increased 5%, primarily due to increased royalties derived from scores sold indirectly to consumers through credit reporting agencies. Mortgage pricing drove the faster-growing B2B line, not this B2C one.

In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, Scores revenue grew 41%, against 2% for FICO’s software business.

Consumer Credit Health and Delinquency Statistics

• Credit card utilization declined 40 basis points to 30.15% in July 2026 from 30.55% in July 2025.
• Overall credit delinquencies improved year-over-year across all stages and credit tiers in July 2026.
• The New York Fed puts the mortgage flow into serious delinquency at 1.52% in Q2 2026.
• Auto loan originations picked up, with $211 billion in new auto loans appearing this quarter.

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Q2 2026

Delinquency drives score movement, so these flows preview where average scores head next. In Q2 2026, 4.7% of outstanding household debt was in some stage of delinquency, according to the New York Fed.

Conclusion

The national average depends on which model a lender pulls. FICO reports an average FICO Score of 714 and a national Classic FICO Score average of 710, while the average VantageScore credit score was 701. FICO’s Credit Insights reports show a K-shaped split behind the averages: the Spring 2026 edition found that a record 48.1% of consumers have FICO Scores of 750 or higher, and the Fall 2026 edition found that consumers with a recent student loan delinquency saw an average 38-point decline.

Mortgage scoring is where the contest now plays out. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accept either model, and lenders weigh price against predictive claims that each vendor reports about itself. Under its optional performance model, FICO cut average per-score fees into tri-merge resellers by 50% by eliminating credit bureau mark-ups, with a $33 funded loan fee per borrower per score at closing that replaces re-issue fees. Based on the patterns in the data above, the next shift in averages is likely to come from delinquency trends rather than from the choice of model.